So did Burke’s reported unwillingness to trade for Roberto Luongo cost him his job in Toronto? Marc Spector says so, and Pierre LeBrun is buying that too. It could make a certain amount of sense, and at the very least the beat writers in both cities – from Botch, to Mirtle, to Cox – think a Luongo trade is more likely now than it was yesterday (when it was still pretty damn likely). That said, Bob McKenzie doesn’t quite buy it and I tend to trust his reporting above all:

McKenzie, Dreger both flatly state they don’t believe a Luongo trade was the reason for Burke’s departure.

Finally, Jim Jamieson catches up with the Sedin twins, who you might remember were only able to stay together as NHL teammates as a result of Brain Burke’s hurculean efforts at the 1999 NHL entry draft. Understandably, they seem to like the guy.

More links, Canucks news and clunky humour after the jump.

Seriously, I’m not over it yet, do the folks complaining about a probable homeopener against the Ducks not realize that this game could feature Teemu Selanne in his last visit to Vancouver as an active player? Fuck me.

Following McKenzie’s lead, Dan Murphy and Tony Gallagher are both on the "Kassian should be given a shot with the twins" bandwagon. My favorite bit of Gallagher’s take? This line: "Most of Kassian’s goals in Chicago this year have been scored from positions where he might well receive a pass from one of the twins." So like, just about anywhere in the offensive zone?

As for Dan Murphy’s blogpost. He (presumably) puts in a lozenge and considers how he’d combine the Canucks’ forward lines, I really like his second line (Higgins, Burrows and Booth) but his third line seems a bit too finesse oriented for my taste (Raymond, Malhotra, Hansen). Interesting take nonetheless, and he’s almost surely correct when he points out that we should expect more than the usual amount of Alain Vigneault’s nervous tick line-blendering in Kesler’s absence. That should go over well!

Finally, when I saw Enrico Ciccone say that the Flyers were interested in Luongo I made a joke about it really being the silly season and disregarded it as farfetched. Of course then Adrian Dater and James Duthie confirmed it, and TSN.ca now has a news blast about it up on the site. So I guess this is a real thing? If Gillis can ignite a Luongo bidding war between two prospect rich and historically reckless organizations in big East Coast markets that would be… uh… pretty fucking awesome!

3 Comments |

I called it from the get go. Knew the Flyers would come calling if they had opportunity to buy out Bryz. Bob Mckenzie has been saying for months that Holgren has huge regrets about singing him and wish he would stay in Russia.

Mr. Drance, with all due respect, the Pub in question is stationed in one of the shoddiest parts of Surrey – Newton/Guildford. The average resident IQ from that neck of the woods wouldn’t be able to start a fire with 2 gallons of gasoline and a blowtorch.

I agree with you, Canucks fans should be thanking Roberto for his services. By far, the best goaltender the team has ever had.